Intended Meaning
Those in command are the legislative authority, and obedience here is to the legislation they issue, not to the persons themselves. The criterion is adherence to the system and the law, not following individuals in their own right.
The Atom’s Structure in the Atlas
- Type of argument: Political
- Movement of the argument: It separates the legitimacy of authority as legislation from the ruler’s person as an individual.
- Key terms: Those in command, legislative authority, obedience, legislation.
- Degree of centrality: Primary.
This atom explains how obedience shifts from personal loyalty to constitutional or legal commitment. It is important for understanding Shahrur’s conception of the state as a system without personalization.
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Basis
- Supporting text: “Those in command: the legislative authority whose legislation is obeyed, not their persons.”
Basis Location in the Book
- Book: State and Society.
- Location: in the middle section of the book
- Type of basis: Close witness.
- Marker that helps verification: obedience to the laws that issue from them
- Reading note: the phrase states that obedience is to legislation, not to persons, which is exactly the content of the atom without addition.
Level of Documentation
- Level: Directly documented
- Meaning of the level: The atom relies on an explicit witness close to the formulation of the claim.
- Limits of the reading: The formulation above is an analytical summary and should not be treated as a verbatim quotation unless the witness is quoted word for word.
Its Function in the Book
Its function here is definitional; it establishes a meaning or conceptual distinction on which Shahrur relies in building the idea.
Related to
Editorial note
The analytical formulation shows the concept’s effect in politics, while the witness condenses the meaning into obedience to legislation, not persons.